


The Way Back

by ThirtySixSaveFiles



Series: Life After the Fall [2]
Category: Borderlands, Tales from the Borderlands - Fandom
Genre: Aftercare, Established Relationship, Light Bondage, Light D/s, M/M, Post Ep-5 TFTBL AU, Spanking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-04
Updated: 2016-04-04
Packaged: 2018-05-31 04:51:32
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,088
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6456637
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThirtySixSaveFiles/pseuds/ThirtySixSaveFiles
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Some things change you forever. Turns out having a homicidal maniac inside your head is one of them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Way Back

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first time I've written this kink, so I hope I got it right (or right enough). Also if I die unexpectedly someone delete my browser history.

Life on Pandora had fallen into a kind of rhythm for Timothy. Eat, sleep, kill; working for Jack had certainly given him the skills to survive on Pandora, and in a way it was refreshing - at least here he _knew_ people were planning on stabbing him in the back, so it wasn’t such a surprise when it happened.

Rhys is different. Rhys had taken him in amidst the wreckage of Helios, amongst all of the other survivors vying for his attention, and Timothy can’t help but think that Rhys sees _him_ and not the man whose face he wears. It’s taught Tim to be hopeful, hopeful in a way that he had thought Jack had ground out of him.

Rhys has a strong right hand in Vaughn, but Vaughn has his own role in the rebuilding process and he can’t be at Rhy’s side every hour of the long Pandoran day. Tim has gotten pretty good at playing shadow, and he falls comfortably into the role of bodyguard in this new world they’re building together.

Tim also thinks that maybe Vaughn has let him get as close to Rhys as he has because Vaughn thinks they’ll understand each other. He’s not entirely wrong - most people don’t survive prolonged exposure to Handsome Jack, and those that do don’t escape unscathed. But for all that Timothy has Jack’s features stamped on him, he thinks that Rhys is the one who bears more of Jack’s shadow.

Obviously Timothy didn’t know Rhys _before_ ; he has no real baseline for comparison. But he does - _did_ \- know Jack, better than most, and he can see Jack’s influence in ways he thinks that maybe even Rhys isn’t aware of.

It’s not immediately apparent. Most days, Rhys is his smiling, encouraging self, and Timothy can see the way the Helios survivors draw strength from that. But every once in a while, Rhys’ voice will go a little sharper, his grin a little meaner, shoulders and feet canted a little wider than usual. On these days Timothy will cut meetings short and cancel inspections, clearing Rhys’ schedule (such as it is) and telling anyone who asks that Rhys will be _unavailable_. Rhys will watch him do it, lips curled in a faint sneer, but he doesn’t stop Timothy and when Tim holds out his hand Rhys takes it, allowing himself to be led away from his desk and back to their bedroom.

On days like this, when the echo of Jack is strong, Rhys needs to be _reset_ , to have the layers of care and worry stripped away, to be reduced by strong hands until he doesn’t have to think anymore, until he can let the sensation break over him and wash the shadow of Jack away.

Timothy can be that for him. Rhys has done so much for Timothy, this is the least Tim can give back.

Timothy shuts the door behind them and comes around to stand in front of Rhys. He cups Rhys’ face in his hands and asks, “what do you need?”

Rhys’ eyes flash and Tim can see him bite back the first response that comes to him. Emotions chase their way across his face, too fast for Timothy to track, and Rhys closes his eyes and says simply, “hands.”

Tim nods to himself and presses his lips to Rhys’ while his eyes are still closed. _Hands_ is a pretty easy one; things haven’t gotten too bad, this time.

While his mouth keeps Rhys occupied, Tim slides the jacket off Rhys’ shoulders and divests him of vest and shirt until his skin is bare to Tim’s touch. Then, and only then, does Tim put his hands on Rhys’ shoulders, forcing him down and around until he’s on his knees in front of the bed, facing away from Timothy.

Rhys growls faintly, but he follows Tim’s direction with only a faint resistance, ending up with his head bowed and arms at his sides. His frame is tight with tension, but that’s part of what they’re dealing with here; Tim means to wipe that tension away so Rhys doesn’t have to carry it anymore, at least for a while.

Timothy gathers Rhys’ wrists and binds them behind his back with a cloth strip kept expressly for this purpose. Rhys flexes his arms briefly, testing, but testing is all he’s doing; if he really wanted to, his cybernetic arm could pull apart his restraints in less than a second. Instead, Rhys relaxes a bit, accepting the confines Tim has put him in. Tim removes the rest of his and Rhys’ clothing quickly and efficiently, making sure to keep a hand on Rhys’ shoulder as much as he can.

“Blindfold?” Timothy asks, and Rhys hesitates for a moment, then shakes his head. Sometimes the blindfold helps, sometimes it doesn’t; the goal is to get Rhys out of his head, not drive him further into it, and sensory deprivation doesn’t always aid in that. Occasionally Tim has caught Rhys cocking his head slightly while blindfolded, as if striving to catch a faint echo only he can hear, and those are the times Tim really has his work cut out for him.

Today isn’t so bad, though. Rhys goes when Tim bends him over the bed, relaxing the tiniest bit when Tim presses a hand in the center of his shoulderblades. Rhys turns his head to the side, gazing blankly at the wall, but there’s still a faint line between his brows. That’s all right. Tim will take care of that soon.

Tim smooths his hands over Rhys’ flanks and the back of his thighs, coming up to massage Rhys’ rear. Rhys sighs and hums, leaning back a little into Tim’s hands.

“Ready?” Tim says, and Rhys nods, eyes still trained on the far side of the room. “Okay, then - _count_.”

Tim brings his hand down on the meat of Rhys’ ass with a resounding _slap_ , and Rhys’ whole body jerks. “One,” he says, sounding entirely too composed, but that’s okay. They’ve got time. Tim does it again. “Two.” And again, on the other side. “Three,” Rhys gasps out, and now they’re getting somewhere.

Tim continues, alternating sides and intensity to keep Rhys guessing. Occasionally he’ll stop and stroke Rhys’ abused flesh for a few seconds. Rhys shivers when he does, and he’ll look over his shoulder at Tim the best he can in his compromised position, but he doesn’t say anything, just closes his eyes and resumes counting. His voice gets a little shakier with each strike of Tim’s hand.

Eventually there comes a time - there always does - when Rhy’s voice falters and he misses the count. Tim stops, smoothing his hand down Rhys’ thighs.

“What number are we on, Rhys?” Rhys shakes his head, eyes still screwed shut. “Come on, Rhys, give me a number.”

“I, uh-” Rhys says, and Tim can see him trying to think. Tim is going to have none of that. He leans forward, spreading Rhy’s bright red cheeks, and licks a stripe right over his hole, making Rhys cry out. “What number, Rhys?”

“I- I don’t know, I don’t know.” There’s relief in Rhys’ voice as he looks back over shoulder at Tim, eyes open and just a little wet. “I don’t know,” he repeats, and this is what Tim was looking for, that wiped clean look, when Rhys looks at Tim like he’s the only thing in the room Rhys understands. Like Tim’s the only thing he sees.

“Shhh, it’s okay, I got you.” They’re not done here, not by a long shot, but this is good progress. Tim reaches under the bed, making sure to keep a hand on Rhys, and drags out a bottle of lube. He slicks up a finger and eases it gently inside Rhys, who sighs. Tim strokes Rhys’ skin, red and warm from Timothy’s hands, as he works Rhys open. When he can get two fingers in he twists and _curls_ them the way he knows Rhys likes, and Rhys jerks, hands flexing against his restraints.

Pretty soon Rhys is rocking back onto Timothy’s fingers with needy little noises, his cock hanging between his legs, flushed and red as his ass. Tim’s own dick is crying out for attention, and he’s a little ashamed at how well this whole scenario works for him, but it’s easy to put that aside in favor of taking care of Rhys.

“Ready?” Tim asks, and Rhys nods into the bedspread. The lines in his body have been replaced by an entirely different kind of tension, and Tim takes pride in that, but his job isn’t done yet. Tim pulls his fingers out and slicks up his dick, lining the head up with Rhys’ hole.

Rhys is always so _warm,_ and Tim groans as he sinks into that tight heat, pulling an answering sound from Rhys. Tim doesn’t give Rhys a chance to adjust, pulling back and pushing back in almost immediately, and he sees Rhys’ thighs tremble.

Tim holds Rhys steady with one hand on his bound wrists and the other on his hip and fucks into him with short, shallow thrusts until Rhys is squirming in his grip, pushing back to try to get _more_ out of Timothy. That’s Tim’s cue to pick up the pace, and he slides the hand on Rhys’ hip between his legs, ghosting over where his balls are drawn up tight against his body and gently tracing his cock. Rhys’ mouth falls open, and his voice breaks on a gasp.

“ _Please,_ Timothy, I-” Tim grips Rhys’ cock more firmly and Rhys’ falters. “I, god, I need it, I need _you,_ Timothy, Tim, _please_ -”

Hearing his name - his _own_ name - from Rhys’ lips always hits Tim somewhere deep in the chest, and he fights past the sudden shortness of breath to concentrate on what’s important here. Rhys is already shuddering intermittently, and Tim tightens his grip on Rhys’ cock at the same time he knees Rhy’s legs a little wider apart. He strokes Rhys’ dick firmly, once, twice, and then Rhys is coming with a muffled cry, shaking like he’s going to come apart in Tim’s hands. Tim holds him through it, groaning as Rhys’ body clenches down around him. His own orgasm hits as Rhys goes lax beneath him, and Tim gets in one more thrust before he’s spilling deep inside Rhys.

Rhys is always sleepy and pliable after, and he doesn’t resist at all when Timothy pulls him up into a sitting position. Tim gently undoes the fabric binding Rhys’ hands and winces at the red band pressed into the flesh wrist. He smooths his fingers over it briefly in apology, and Rhys hums and leans back against him.

It takes a bit of maneuvering to get someone as tall as Rhys up and on the bed when he’s like this, but Rhys lets Tim pull him up and settle him on his stomach with a minimum of fuss. Timothy fishes around under the bed again while Rhys watches with sleepy eyes, and when he pulls out a tin of salve triumphantly Rhys smiles softly.

Rhys sighs as Timothy cleans him up and smooths lotion over his posterior, massaging the abused flesh. Tim helps Rhys detatch the cybernetic arm, placing it carefully in the charging cradle across the room before returning to the bed where Rhys’ eyes are drooping. When he sweeps a hand down Rhys’ back Rhys shivers faintly, so Tim shuffles him under the covers, ignoring Rhys’ sleepy protests.

Timothy crawls in after him and curves his body around Rhys, letting himself enjoy this warm and quiet space they’ve created for themselves. Outside the walls of this room, life on Pandora carries on - harsh, violent, and unforgiving - but in here Rhys is pushing himself closer into Tim’s chest and brushing his lips over Tim’s neck.

“Thank you,” Rhys murmurs into the quiet between them, and Timothy kisses the top of Rhys’ head in answer, tightening his arms around Rhys.

They’ll be here again, Tim knows. Handsome Jack is gone, but his AI burned new pathways into the circuitry of Rhys’ brain, and that’s not a wound that heals, at least not quickly. Rhys is needed, though - the Children of Helios need him, Vaughn needs him, and _Timothy_ needs him, needs this new purpose in a life he had thought would end with a bullet in the head in the Pandoran desert.

It might still end that way. But Timothy is hopeful about the future.

(Rhys has taught him that.)

**Author's Note:**

> You can find me at [ThirtySixSaveFiles](http://thirtysixsavefiles.tumblr.com) on Tumblr!


End file.
